The long sultry August day was drawing to a close, and those who had
found the intense heat almost unendurable watched with delight the
slow hands of the clock, whose lagging fingers finally pointed to
five. The sky seemed brass, the atmosphere a blast from Tophet; and
the sun, still standing at some distance above the horizon, glared
mercilessly down over the panting parched: earth, as if a recent and
unusually copious shower of "meteoric cosmical matter" had fallen
into the solar furnace, and prompted it by increased incandescence to
hotly deny the truth of Helmholtz's assertion: "The inexorable laws
of mechanics show that the store of heat in the sun must be finally
exhausted." Certainly to those who had fanned themselves through the
tedious torture long remembered as the "hot Sunday," the
science-predicted period of returning glaciers and polar snows where
palms and lemons now hold sway, seemed even more distant than the
epoch suggested by the speculative. In proportion to the elevation of
the mercurial vein which mounted to and poisoned itself at 100
degrees, the religious, the devotional, pulse sank lower, almost to
zero; consequently, although circumstances of unusual interest
attracted the congregation to the church, where Mr. Lindsay intended
to preach his farewell sermon, only a limited number had braved the
heat to shake hands with the young minister, who ere another sunrise
would have started on his long journey to the pagan East.
At the parsonage it had been a sad day, sad despite the grave
serenity of Mr. Hargrove, the quiet fortitude of Mr. Lindsay, and the
desperate attempts of the mother to drive back tears, compose
fluttering lips, and steady the tones of her usually cheerful voice.
For several days previous, Mr. Hargrove had been quite indisposed,
and as his nephew would leave home at eleven p.m., the customary
Sunday night service had been omitted.
As the afternoon wore away, the family trio assembled on the shaded
end of the north verandah, and with intuitive delicacy, Regina shrank
from intruding on the final interview which appeared so sacred.
Followed by Hero, she went through the shrubbery, and down a walk
bordered with ancient cedars, which led to a small gate that opened
into the adjoining churchyard.
In accordance with a custom long since fallen hopelessly into
desuetude, but prevailing when the venerable church was erected, it
had been placed in the centre of a spacious square, every yard of
which had subsequently become hallowed as the last resting-place of
families who had passed away, since the lofty spire rose like a huge
golden finger pointing heavenward. An avenue of noble elms led from
the iron gate to the broad stone steps; and on either side and
behind the church swelled the lines of mounds, some white with
marble, some green with turf, now and then a heap of mossy
shells--not a few gay with flowers--all scrupulously free from weeds,
and those most melancholy symptoms of neglect, which even in public
cemeteries too often impress the beholder with gloomy premonitions of
his own inevitable future, and recall the solemn admonition of the
Talmud: "Life is a passing shadow. Is it the shadow of a tower, or of
a tree? A shadow that prevails for a while? No, it is the shadow of a
bird in his flight,--away flies the bird, and there remains neither
bird nor shadow."
Has the profoundly religious sentiment of reverence for the domains
of death lost or gained by the modern practice of municipal monopoly
of the right of sepulture? Who, amid the pomp and splendour of
Greedwood or Mount Auburn, where human vanity builds its own proud
monument in the mausoleums of the dead,--who, in hurrying along the
broad and beautiful avenues thronged with noisy groups of chattering
pedestrians, and with gay equipages that render the name "City of
silence" a misnomer, converting it into a _quasi_ Festa ground, a
scene for subdued Sunday _Fête Champêtre_,--who, passing from these
magnificent city cemeteries, into some primitive old-fashioned
churchyard, such as that of V----, has not suddenly been almost
overpowered by the contrast presented: the deep brooding solemnity,
the holy hush, the pervading indwelling atmosphere of true sanctity
that distinguishes the latter?
Could any other than the simple ancient churchyard of bygone days
have suggested that sweetest, purest, noblest elegy in our mother
tongue? Do not our hearts yearn with an intense and tender longing
toward that church, at whose font we were baptized, at whose
communion-table we reverently bowed, before whose altar we breathed
the marriage vows, from whose silent chancel we shall one day be
softly and slowly borne away to our last, long sleep? Why not lay us
down to rest, where the organ that pealed at our wedding and sobbed
its requiem over our senseless clay may still breathe its loving
dirges across our graves in winter's leaden storms, or in fragrant
amber-aired summer days? Would worldly vampires, such as political or
financial schemes, track a man's footsteps down the aisle, and flap
their fatal numbing pinions over his soul so securely even in the
Sanctuary of the Lord, if from his family pew his eyes wandered now
and then to the marble slab that lay like a benediction over the
silver head of an honoured father or mother, or the silent form of a
beloved wife, sister, or brother?
Is there a woman so callous, so steeped in folly, that the tinsel of
Vanity Fair, the paraphernalia of fashion, or all the thousand small
fiends that beleaguer the female soul, could successfully lure her
imagination from holy themes, when sitting in front of the pulpit,
she yet sees through the open windows where butterflies like happy
souls flutter in and out the motionless chiselled cenotaph that rests
like a sentinel above the pulseless heart that once enshrined her
image, called her wife, and beat in changeless devotion against her
own; or the little grassy billow sown thick with violets that speak
to her of the blue eyes beneath them, where in dreamless slumber that
needs no mother's cradling arms, no maternal lullaby, reposes the
waxen form, the darling golden head of her long-lost baby? What spot
so peculiarly suited for "God's acre" as that surrounding God's
temple?
A residence of dearly four years' duration at the parsonage had
rendered this quiet churchyard a favourite retreat with Regina, and,
divesting the graves of all superstitious terrors, had awakened in
her nature only a most profound and loving reverence for the
precincts of the dead.
To-day, longing for some secluded spot in which to indulge the
melancholy feelings that oppressed her, she instinctively sought the
church, yielding unconscious homage to its hallowed and soothing
influence. Passing slowly and carefully among the head-stones, she
went into the church, to which she had access at all times by a key,
which enabled her to enter at will and practise on the small organ
that was generally used in Sabbath-school music.
Fancying that it might be cooler in the gallery, she ascended to the
organ loft, and while Hero stretched himself at her feet, she sat
down on one of the benches close to the open window that looked
toward the mass of trees which so completely embowered the parsonage,
that only one ivy-crowned chimney was visible. Low in the sky, and
just opposite the tall arched window behind the pulpit, the sun
burned like a baleful Cyclopean eye, striking through a mass of ruby
tinted glass that had been designed to represent a lion, and other
symbols of the Redeemer, who soared away above them.
Are there certain subtle electrical currents sheathed in human flesh
that link us sometimes with the agitated reservoirs of electricity
trembling in the bosom of yet distant clouds? Do not our own highly
charged nervous batteries occasionally give the first premonition of
coming thunderstorms? Long before the low angry growl that came
suddenly from some lightning lair in the far south, below the
sky-line, Regina anticipated the approaching war of elements, and
settled herself to wait for it.
Not until to-day had she realized how much of the pleasure of her
life at the parsonage was derived from the sunny presence and
sympathizing companionship which she was now about to lose,
certainly for many years, probably for ever.
Although Mr. Lindsay's age doubled her own, he had entered so fully
into her fancies, humoured so patiently her girlish caprices, with
such tireless interest aided her in her studies, that she seemed to
forget his seniority, and treated him with the quiet affectionate
freedom which she would have indulged toward a young brother. Next to
the memory of her mother, she probably gave him the warmest place in
her heart, but she was a remarkably reserved, composed, and
undemonstrative child, by no means addicted to caresses, and only in
moments of deep feeling betrayed into an impulsive passionate
gesture, or a burst of emotion.
Sincerely attached to the entire household, who had won not merely
her earnest gratitude, but profound respect and admiration, she was
conscious of a peculiar clinging tenderness for Mr. Lindsay, which
rendered the prospect of his departure the keenest trial that had
hitherto overtaken her; and when she thought of the immense distance
that must soon divide them, the laborious nature of the engagement
that would detain him perhaps a lifetime in the far East, her own dim
uncertain future looked dark and dreary. The blazing sun went down at
last, the fiery radiance of the pulpit window faded, and the birds
that frequented the quiet sheltered enclosure sought their perches in
the thickest foliage where they were wont to sleep. But there was no
abatement of the heat. The air was sulphurous, and its inspiration
was about as refreshing as a draught from Phlegethon; while the
distant occasional growl had grown into a frequent thunderous
muttering that deepened with every repetition, and already began to
shake the windows in its reverberations. Two ladies in deep mourning,
who had been hovering like black spectres around a granite
sarcophagus, where they deposited and arranged the customary Sabbath
arkja of white flowers, concluded their loving tribute to the
sleeper, and left the churchyard; and save the continual challenge
of the thunder drawing nearer, the perfect stillness ominous and
dread, which always precedes a violent storm, seemed brooding in
fearful augury above the home of the dead.
With one foot resting on Hero's neck, Regina sat leaning against the
window facing, very pale, but bravely fighting this her first great
battle with sorrow. Her face was eloquent with mute suffering, and
her eyes were full of shadows that left no room for tears.
"Going away to India, perhaps for ever!" was the burden of this woe
that blanched even her lovely coral lips until their curves were lost
in the pallor of her rounded cheek and dimpled chin. "Going away to
India;" like some fateful rune presaging dire disaster, it seemed
traced in characters of flame across the glowing sky, and over the
stony monuments that studded the necropolis.
Suddenly Hero lifted his head, sniffed the air, and rose, and almost
simultaneously Regina heard the sound of footsteps on the gravel
outside, and the low utterances of a voice which she recognized as
Hannah's.
"I never told you before, because I was afraid that in the end you
would cheat me out of my share of the profit. But I have watched and
waited, and bided my time as long as I intend to, and I am too old to
work as I have done."
"It seems to me a queer thing you have hid it so long, so many years,
when you might have turned it into gold. The old General ought to pay
well for the paper. Let's see it."
The response was in a man's voice, harsh and discordant, and, leaning
slightly forward, Regina saw the old servant from the parsonage
standing immediately beneath the window, fanning herself with her
white apron, and earnestly conversing in subdued tones with a
middle-aged man, whose flushed and rather bloated face still retained
traces of having once been, though in a coarse style, handsome. In
length of limb, and compact muscular development he appeared an
athlete, a very son of Anak; but habitual dissipation had set its
brutalizing stamp upon his countenance, and the expression of the
inflamed eyes and sensuous mouth was sinister and forbidding, as if a
career of vice had left the stain of irremediable ruin on his swarthy
face.
As he concluded his remark and stretched out his hand, Hannah laughed
scornfully.
"Do you take me for a fool? Who else would travel around with a match
and a loaded fuse in the same pocket? I haven't it with me; it is too
valuable to be carried about. The care of that scrap of paper has
tormented me all these years, worse than the tomb devils did the
swine that ran down into the sea to cool off; and if I have changed
its hiding-place once, I have twenty times. If the old General
doesn't pay well for it, I shall gnaw off my fingers, on account of
the sin it has cost me. I was an honest woman and could have faced
the world until that night--so many years ago; and since then I have
carried a load on my soul that makes me--even Hannah Hinton, who
never flinched before man or woman or beast--a coward, a quaking
coward! Sin stabs courage, lets it ooze out, as a knife does blood.
Don't bully me, Peleg! I won't bear it. Jeer me if you dare."
"Never fear, Aunt Hannah. I have no mind to do theatre on a small
scale, and show you Satan reproving sin. After all, what is your bit
of _petit larceny_, your thin slice of theft, in comparison with my
black work? But really I don't in the least begrudge my sins, if only
I might have my revenge,--if I could only get Minnie in my power."
"Bah! don't sicken me with any more of the Minnie dose! I hate the
name as I do small-pox or cholera. A pretty life you have led,
dancing after her, as an outright fool might after the pewter-bells
on a baby's rattle!"
"You women can't understand how a man feels when his love changes to
hate; and yet you ought to know all about it, for when you do turn
upon one another you never let go. Aunt Hannah, I loved her better
than everything else upon the broad earth; I would have kissed the
dust where she walked; I always loved her, and she was fond of me,
until that college dandy came between us, and made a fool of her, a
villain of me. When she forsook me, and followed him off, I swore I
would be revenged. There is tiger blood in me, and when I am
thoroughly stirred up I never cool. It is a long, long time since I
lost her trail--soon after the child was born, and eight years ago I
almost gave up and went to Cuba; but if I can only find the track, I
will follow it till I hunt her down. I never received your letters,
or I would have hurried back. Where is Minnie now?"
"That is more than I know, but I think somewhere in Europe. The
letters are always sent to a lawyer in New York, who directs them to
her. I have tried in every way to find out, but they are all too
smart for me."
"Why don't you pump the child?"
"Haven't I? And gained about as much as if I had put a handle on the
side of a lump of cast iron, and pumped. She is closer than sealing
wax, and shrewder than a serpent. If you pumped her till the stars
fell, you would not get an air-bubble, She can neither be scared nor
coaxed."
"Where is the paper?"
"Safely buried here, among the dead."
"What folly! Don't you know the dampness will destroy it? Pshaw! you
have ruined everything."
"See here, Peleg, all the brains of the family did not lodge in your
skull; and I guess I was wiser at your age than you will be at mine.
The paper was safe and sound when I looked at it a month ago, and it
is wrapped up in oil-silk, then in cotton, and kept in a thick tin
box."
"When can I see it? Suppose you get it now?"
"In daylight? You may depend on my steering clear of detection, no
matter what comes. I would take it up to-night, but there is going to
be an awful storm. Do you hear how the thunder keeps bellowing down
yonder, under that dark line crossing the south? There will be wild
work pretty soon; it has been simmering all day, and when it begins
it won't be child's play. Even the marble slabs on the graves are
hot, and the ground scorched my feet, as if Satan and his fires had
burnt through all but a thin crust. I never was afraid of the devil
until my sin brought me close to him. I want to finish this business,
and before day to-morrow I will come over here and dig up my box.
There will be dim moonlight by three o'clock, and if it should be
cloudy, I can shut my eyes and find the place. I tell you, Peleg, I
am sick and tired of this dirty work; and sometimes I think I am no
better than a hyena prowling among dead men's bones. Come around to
the cowshed in the morning, about seven o'clock, when the family will
be in the library holding prayers; and when I go to milk, I will
bring you the paper. Only to look at, to read over, mind you! It
doesn't leave my hands, until the old General's gold jingles in my
pocket. Then he is welcome to it, and Minnie may suffer the
consequences; and you and I will divide the profits. I want to go
away and rest with my sister Penelope the remainder of my life, and
though the family here beg me to stay, I have already given notice
that I intend to stop work next month."
"Very well, don't fail me; I am as anxious to close up the job as you
possibly can be. I should like to see the child, Minnie's child; but
I might spoil everything if she looks like her mother. Good-bye till
to-morrow."
The two walked away, one passing down the avenue of elms out into the
street. The other sauntered in the direction of the parsonage, but
ere she reached the small gate, Hannah turned aside to a low iron
railing that enclosed two monuments; a marble angel with expanded
wings standing above a child's grave, and a broken column wreathed
with sculptured ivy, placed on a mound covered with grass. Just
behind the former and close to the railing, rose a noble Lombardy
poplar that towered even above the elms, and at its base a mass of
periwinkle and ground ivy ran hither and thither in luxuriant
confusion, clasping a few ambitious tendrils even about the ancient
trunk.
Over the railing leaned Hannah, peering down for several moments, at
the lush green creepers, then she walked on to the parsonage gate,
and disappeared.
Watching her movements, Regina readily surmised that somewhere near
that tree the paper was secreted; and she was painfully puzzled to
unravel the thread that evidently linked her with the mystery.
"I am the child she spoke of, and she has tried again and again to
'pump' me, as she called it. 'Minnie' must mean my mother; but that
is not her name. Odilie Orphia Orme never could be twisted into
'Minnie;' and that coarse, common, low, wicked man never could have
dared to love my own dear beautiful proud mother! There must be some
dreadful mistake. Somebody is wrong; but not mother,--no, no--never
my mother! Once she wrote that she was forced to keep some things
secret, because she had bitter enemies; and this man must be one of
them, for he said he would hunt her down. But he shall not! Was it
Providence that brought them here to talk over their wicked schemes
where I could hear them? Oh if I only knew all! Mother--mother! you
might trust your child! I can't believe that I am ignorant even of my
mother's name. Surely she never was that red-faced man's 'Minnie'!"
Covering her face with her hands, she shuddered at the familiar
mention by profane lips of one so hallowed in her estimation, and
this vague threatening of danger to her mother sufficed for a time to
divert her thoughts from the sorrow that for some days past had
engrossed her mind.
Knowing the affection and confidence with which Hannah had always
been treated by the members of the family, and the great length of
time she had so faithfully served in the parsonage household, Regina
was shocked at the discovery of her complicity in a scheme which she
admitted had made her dishonest. Only two days before she had heard
Mrs. Lindsay lamenting that misfortunes never came single, for as if
Douglass's departure were not disaster enough for one year, Hannah
must even imagine that she felt symptoms of dropsy and desired to go
away somewhere in Iowa or Minnesota, where she could rest, and be
nursed by her relatives.
This announcement heightened the gloom that already impended, and
various attempts had been made by Mr. Hargrove and his sister to
induce Hannah to reconsider her resolution. But she obstinately
maintained that she was "a worn-out old horse, who ought to be turned
out to pasture in peace the rest of her days;" yet, notwithstanding
her persistency, she evinced much distress at her approaching
separation from the family, and never alluded to it without a flood
of tears.
What would the members of the household think when they discovered
how mistaken all had been in her real character? But had she a right
to betray Hannah to her employer? Perhaps the paper had no connection
with the parsonage, and no matter whom else she might have wronged,
Hannah had faithfully served the pastor, and repaid his kindness by
devotion to his domestic interests. Regina's nature was generous as
well as just, and she felt grateful to Hannah for many small favours
bestowed on herself, for a uniform willingness to oblige or assist
her, as only servants have it in their power to do.
Sweetening reminiscences of caramels and crullers, of parenthetic
patty-pancakes not ordered or expected on the parsonage bill of fare,
pleaded pathetically for Hannah, and were ably supported by
recollections of torn dresses deftly darned, of unseasonably and
unreasonably soiled white aprons, which the same skilful hands had
surreptitiously washed and fluted before the regular day for
commencing the laundry work, all of which now made clamorous and
desperate demands on the girl's gratitude and leniency. So complete
had been her trust in Hannah that her reticence concerning her mother
sprang solely from Mr. Hargrove's earnest injunction that she would
permit no one to question her upon the subject; consequently she had
very tenderly intimated to the old woman that she was not at liberty
to discuss that matter with any one.
"She is going away very soon, bearing a good character. Would it be
right for me to disgrace her in her old age, by telling Mr. Hargrove
what I accidentally overheard? If I only knew 'Minnie' meant mother,
I could be sure this paper did not refer to Mr. Hargrove, and then I
should see my way clearly; for they both said 'old General,' and no
one calls Mr. or Dr. Hargrove 'General.' I only want to do what is
right."
As she lifted her face from her hands she was surprised at the sudden
gloom that since she last looked out had settled like a pall over the
sky, darkening the church, rendering even the monuments indistinct.
Hero began to whine and bark, and, starting from her seat, Regina
hurried toward the steps leading down from the organ-loft. Ere she
reached them a fearful sound like the roaring of a vast flood broke
the prophetic silence, then a blinding lurid flash seemed to wrap
everything in flame; there was simultaneously an awful detonating
crash, as if the pillars of the universe had given way, and the
initial note ushered in the thunder-fugue of the tempest, that raged
as if the Destroying Angel rode upon its blast.
In the height of its fury it bowed the ancient elms as if they were
mere reeds, and shook the stone church to its foundations as a giant
shakes a child's toy.
Frightened by the trembling of the building, Regina began to descend
the stairs, guided by the incessant flashes of lightning, but when
about half-way down a terrific peal of thunder so startled her that
she missed a step, grasped at the balustrade but failed to find it,
and rolled helplessly to the floor of the vestibule. Stunned and mute
with terror, she attempted to rise, but her left foot, crushed under
her in the fall, refused to serve her, and with a desperate instinct
of faith she crawled through the inside door and down the aisle,
seeking refuge at the altar of God. Dragging the useless member, she
reached the chancel at last, and as the lightning showed her the
railing, she laid herself down, and clasped the mahogany balusters in
both hands.
In the ghastly electric light she saw the wild eyes of the lion in
the pulpit window glaring at her,--but over all the holy smile of
Christ, as, looking down in benediction, He soared away heavenward;
and above the howling of the hurricane rose her cry to Him who
stilleth tempests, and saith to wind and sea, "Peace, be still!": "O
Jesus! save me, that I may see my mother once more!"
She imagined there was a lull, certainly the shrieking of the gale
seemed to subside, but only for half a moment, and in the doubly
fierce renewal of elemental strife, amid deafening peals if thunder
and the unearthly glare that preceded each reverberation, there came
other sounds more appalling, and as the church rocked and quivered
some portion of the ancient edifice fell, adding its crash to the
diapason of the storm.
Believing that the roof was falling upon her, Regina shut her eyes,
and in after years she recalled vividly two sensations that seemed
her last on earth: one, the warm touch of Hero's tongue on her
clenched fingers; the other, a supernatural wail that came down from
the gallery, and that even then she knew was born in the organ. Was
it the weird fingering of the sacrilegious cyclone that concentrated
its rage upon the venerable sanctuary? After a little while the fury
of the wind spent itself, but the rain began to fall heavily, and the
electricity drama continued with unabated vigour and fierceness.
Although unusually brave for so young a person, Regina had been
completely terrified, and she lay dumb and motionless, still clinging
to the altar railing. At last, when the wind left the war to the
thunder and the rain, Hero, who had been quite until now, began to
bark violently, left her side, and ran to and fro, now and then
uttering a peculiar sound, which with him always indicated delight.
His subtle instinct was stronger than her hope, and as she raised
herself into a sitting posture she saw that he had sprung upon the
top of one of the side aisle pews, and thence into the window, which
had been left open by the sexton. Here he lingered as if irresolute,
and in an agony of dread at the thought of being deserted, she cried
out:
"Here, Hero! Come back! Hero, don't leave me to die alone."
He whined in answer, and barked furiously as if to reassure her; then
the whole church was illumined with a lurid glory that seemed to
scorch the eyeballs with its intolerable radiance, and in it she saw
the white figure of the dog plunge into the blackness beyond.
She knew the worst was over, unless the lightning killed her, for the
wind had ceased, and the walls were still standing; but the
atmosphere was thick with dust, and redolent of lime, and she
conjectured that the plastering in the gallery had fallen, though the
tremendous crash portended something more serious. She tried to stand
up by steadying herself against the balustrade, but the foot refused
to sustain her weight, and she sank back into her former crouching
posture, feeling very desolate, but tearless and quiet as one of the
apostolic figures that looked pityingly upon her whenever the
lightning smote through them.
She turned her head, so that at every flash she could gaze upon the
placid face of the beatified Christ floating above the pulpit; and in
the intense intervening darkness tried to possess her soul in
patience, thinking of the mercy of God and the love of her mother.
She knew not how long Hero had left her, for pain and terror are not
accurate chronometers, but after what appeared a weary season of
waiting, she started when his loud bark sounded under the window,
through which he had effected his exit. She tried to call him, but
her throat was dry and parched, and her foot throbbed and ached so
painfully, that she dreaded making any movement. Then a voice always
pleasant to her ears, but sweeter now than an archangel's, shouted
above the steady roar of the rain:
"Regina! Regina!"
She rose to her knees, and with a desperate exertion of lungs and
throat, answered:
"I am here! Mr. Lindsay, I am here!"
Remembering that words ending in o were more readily distinguished at
a distance, she added:
"Hero! Oh, Hero!"
His frantic barking told her that she had been heard, and then
through the window came once more the music of the loved voice.
"Be patient. I am coming."
She could not understand why he did not come through the door instead
of standing beneath the window, and it seemed stranger still, that
after a little while all grew silent again. But her confidence never
wavered, and in the darkness she knelt there patiently, knowing that
he would not forsake her.
It seemed a very long time before Hero's bark greeted her once more,
and, turning toward the window, a lingering zigzag flash of lightning
showed her Douglass Lindsay's face, as he climbed in, followed by the
dog.
"Regina! where are you?"
"Oh, here I am!"
He stood on one of the seats, swinging a lantern in his hand, and as
she spoke he sprang toward her.
Still clutching the altar railing with one hand, she knelt, with her
white suffering face upturned piteously to him, and stooping he threw
his arms around her and clasped her to his heart.
"My darling, God has been merciful to you and me!"
She stole one arm up about his neck, and clung to him, while for the
first time he kissed her cheek and brow.
"Does my darling know what an awful risk she ran? The steeple has
fallen, and the whole front of the church is blocked up, a mass of
ruins. I could not get in, and feared you were crushed, until I heard
Hero bark from the inside and followed the sound, which brought me to
the window, whence he jumped out to meet me. At last when you
answered my call, I was obliged to go back for a ladder. Here,
darling, at God's altar, let us thank Him for your preservation."
He bowed his face upon her head, and she heard the whispered
thanksgiving that ascended to the throne of grace, but no words
were audible. Rising he attempted to lift her, but she winced and
moaned, involuntarily sinking back.
"What is the matter? After all, were you hurt?"
"When I came down from the gallery it turned so dark I was
frightened, and I stumbled and fell down the steps. I must have
broken something, for when I stand up my ankle gives way, and I can't
walk at all."
"Then how did you get here? The steps are at the front of the
church."
"I thought the altar was the safest place, and I crawled here on my
hands and knees."
He pressed her head against his shoulder, and his deep manly voice
trembled.
"Thank God, for the thought. It was your salvation, for the stairs
and the spot where you must have fallen are a heap of stone, brick,
and mortar. If you had remained there, you would certainly have been
killed."
"Yes, it was just after I got here and caught hold of the railing
that the crash came. Oh! is it not awful!"
"It was an almost miraculous escape, for which you ought to thank and
serve your God all the days of the life He has mercifully spared to
you. Stand up a minute, even if it pains you, and let me find out
what ails your foot. I know something of surgery, for once it was my
intention to study medicine instead of divinity."
He unbuttoned and removed her shoe, and as he firmly pressed the foot
and ankle, she flinched and sighed.
"I think there are no bones broken, but probably you have wrenched
and sprained the ankle, for it is much swollen already. Now, little
girl, I must go back for some assistance. You will have to be taken
out through the window, and I am afraid to attempt carrying you down
the ladder unaided and in the darkness. I might break your neck,
instead of your ankle."
"Oh, please don't leave me here!"
She stretched out her arms pleadingly, and tears sprang to his eyes
as he noted the pallor of her beautiful face and the nervous
fluttering of her white lips.
"I shall leave Hero and the lantern with you, and you may be sure I
shall be gone the shortest possible time. The danger is over now,
even the lightning is comparatively distant, and you who have been so
brave all the while certainly will not prove a coward at the last
moment."
He took her up as easily as if she had been an infant, and laid her
tenderly down on one of the pew cushions; then placed the lantern on
the pulpit desk, and came back.
"Slip your hand under Hero's collar, to prevent him from following me
if he should try to do so, and keep up your courage. Put yourself in
God's hands, and wait here patiently for Douglass. Don't you know
that I would not leave you here an instant, if it could be avoided?
God bless you, my white dove."
He stooped and kissed her forehead, then hurried away, and after a
moment Regina knew that she and her dog were once more alone in the
ancient church, with none nearer than the dead, who slept so soundly,
while the soft summer rain fell ceaselessly above their coffins.